Molded beehive



W. DULLAS MOLDED BEEHIVE Nov. 12, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed June 50.1961 I INV EN TOR. FIG. 2 BY Z ZZZ '1! III /a VI! III/II 2 F I G. 5

w. buLLAs MOLDED BEEHIVE Nov. 12, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 30,1961 INV EN TOR.

3,1 mil-44 Patented Nov. 12, 1963 3,119,044 MOLDED BEEHEVE WilliamDallas, Peoria, Arie. (5927 W. Myrtle, Glendale, Ariz.) Filed Jiune 3t),1% er. No. 121,695 1 (Ilaim. (Cl. 6-1) This invention concerns animproved beehive.

Heretofore beehives, aside from the type made of straw, etc., have beenmade of standard size having uniform width, height and depth. This madeit possible to have combs within the hive of uniform size either for usewhen the honey was extracted from the comb or when the combs wereremoved as a unit. The size and structure of the combs is not concernedin this invention except that it should be understood that the hive hereconcerned will accept standard comb frames of all types.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a hive which can bemade of substances other than wood which will nevertheless have theproperties desirable for the best health and behavior of the bees.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hive which can beassembled as a unit at the factory.

Still another object is to provide a hive which has the side and endwalls made of plasticizable material which can be moulded with handlesall around, both on the ends and on the sides.

Still another object is to provide a hive with walls as above mentionedwhich will accept standard bottom plates and top covers made of wood,according to the usual practice.

Still another object is to provide sides and ends which have rests tohold comb frames built into the end pieces so that separate strips orgroove forming devices are not necessary.

Still another object is to provide a hive having sides made ofplasticizable material having lifting grooves which are slightlybevelled upward and having bevel grooves in the top and the bottom whichwill enable the user to clamp two hive units together by a simpleappliance to form a hive with a super.

Another object is to provide hives having the side and end walls ofplasticizable material shaped so as to have light weight and to provideopenings therein to the weight and also increase the insulatingproperties of the sides and ends and also increase their structuralstrength by having inside partitions constructed in a vertical position.

Another object is to provide a hive box having side wall plates providedwith grooves to receive a hive tool to aid in removing it from the restof the hive. These grooves are bevelled so that there be enough spacefor a hive tool to fit between boxes on the hive. The outside surface ofthe box exposes the largest opening of the groove, with the insidesurface being tight and showing no apparent groove in that it diminishesabout midway between the outer and inner surface of the hive box.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

1 attain the foregoing objects by means of the structure, shape anddesign of the hives in a manner illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a lower hive partincluding my improvements.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the lower hive parts with the bottomplate added and a super positioned on top of the bottom hive part and acover or top in position.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken through an end of the hive shown inFIGURE 2, substantially on line 33, with portions broken away to lowerthe full height of the figure as shown; the parts in the figure aredrawn on a larger scale than those in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken through the sides of the hive shownin FIGURE 2 with portions broken out and drawn on an enlarged scale; andI FIGURE 5 is a fragment of the side of the hive taken substantially onlines 55, FIGURE 1, and showing a means for supplying a strengtheningrib and air space insulating holes within the side structure.

Similar numerals refer to "similar parts in the several views.

The hive, as illustrated here, consists generally of the lower part 2and the upper part called a super, marked 3, however, more supers may beadded if needed.

Following my method of forming the hive these parts can be madeinterchangeable with what is currently on the market, and, therefore,are of uniform construction.

Each unit of this structure has sides 5 and 5' and ends 6 and 6'. Theseparts may be termed plates and are preferably made of plastic orplasticizable material, for example polyethylene. This material may becast and moulded and thereafter worked as necessary to form the finishedstructure. Referring to FIGURE 3, it will be noted that the end plate 6is made with a fiat top edge 7 and a groove or shelf 3 on the innerface. This groove or shelf with a triangular hump is to accommodate theends of frames this triangular hump is provided to aid the bee keeper inremoving frames that may be adhering to the frame resting portion of theend plate. The top edge '7 will accommodate the standard top plate itusually made of wood, and usually provided with an edge cap 12. On theoutside face of this plate there is a groove 14 providing a hand-holdthat is slightly bevelled upward which surrounds the entire section. Thebevelled portion of the hand-hold will provide a surface to the chancesof ones fingers slipping from the box. At the outer portion of thehand-hold Where the bevelled surface begins, notice that the edge isslightly curved or rounded. This is used in lifting the sections whichmay be the upper or lower section, as the case may be. Below groove 14there is a flat area 15 which provides the flat sides of the plate.Within the upper portion of the plate there is a transverse opening 16which may be termed a core opening and may be moulded into the platewhen it is originally formed. Or may be formed as two mating grooves oftwo slabs which may thereafter be welded together, as can be done withplasticizable material by applying heat to the parts to be welded. Thisopening tends to lighten the plate, to diminish the total amount ofplastic needed and to aid in insulating and stiffening the hand platelongitudinally.

Within the central portion :15 of the end plate 6 there is also anopening 18 which is formed similar to the opening 16. This opening mayalso be formed by moulding two portions of the plate separately, forminggrooves which are mating halves of the opening and then welding thehalves together. This opening extends longitudinally of the plate and isused for li htening and insulating the material. Since this opening maytend to make the flanks 245' and 21 too weak, a web strip, such as 22,may be formed within the opening, as shown particularly in FEGURE 5 tostrengthen the plate. This web extends vertically within the opening 18and webs of this type are indicated in dotted lines 23, FIGURE 1.

The lower end plate 26, as shown in FIGURE 3; is made the same as theupper plate 6. Note that there is a groove 23 adjacent the lower edge 2of plate 6. This forms a rim 39 which matches the rim 31 formed by thegroove 34 at the top of the lower plate 26, as illustrated in FIGURE 23.The rim 3]; is rounded to minimize finger irritation. In addition, rims3t} and 31 may be held together by fastener such as 35 shown in detailin FI URE 3 and also illustrated in FIGURE 2. The top edge 37 of endpiece 26 forms a surface on which the bottom 29 of the top plate 6rests. In the same manner the bottom edge 38 of the lower end plate 26forms an edge rest, This edge is supported above the top face 49* of thebottom plate 41 on cleat 53. This bottom plate may be made of wood andis of standard construction the same as is ordinarily used with hivesmade with Wooden sides and ends. 7

The side plates 5 and 5' are made in the same manner and with similarmoulds as the end plates 6 and 6' pre viously described. These sideplates have grooves formed at 44- to form finger holds the same asgrooves 14 in plate 6. They also have longitudinally extendinginsulating and lighting holes 46 and 47 made in the same manner and forthe same purpose as the longitudinal holes 16 and 18 in the plates 6 and6. The lower side plate, marked generally 56 in FIGURE 4, is made thesame as the upper plate 5, EEGURE 4.

In manufacturing hives of this type all the plates may be made and cutto the proper lengths and their end edges cemented or Welded together atthe factory, or the entire assembly, including the sides and ends, maybe moulded as one unit at the factory. In either case the sides and endsof the hive body are made of plastic, shaped and constructed as abovedescribed and when one part 2 is set upon a base such as 41) thecorresponding super 3 may be set upon it and the two held together bythe clips 3'5 as indicated. The lower edges of the lower part 2 may thenbe set upon baseboard or plate 40 and supported a slight distance aboveit by strips 53. This provides a space 54 for the bees to enter andleave the hive. This space is indicated at the end of the hive nearestthe viewer in FZGURE 2. The opposite end opening, such as 54, may beclosed by a strip similar to 53 if it is so desired. With the cover It}in place the hive is ready for use and it will be found that it is bothlight and durable and can be made as permanent as the nature of theplastic used in moulding the side and end plates.

Along the bottom of the side plates, such as 50, shown in FIGURE 4, Iprovide a number of grooves 56 into which a spade shaped tool may beinserted and used to pry the bottom edge of the sides of the hive awayfrom the bottom base 4t). This is known to the art as a hive tool and isused to break the edges loose from the bottom because the bees are knownto close the contacting edges between the side and the bottom with Waxand propolis according to their custom and instincts.

he same is true in separating the super from the bottom section whendesired. These grooves, marked '56, will also be found along the loweredges of the sides of the super.

Due to the fact that wood suitable for the construction of the hives isbecoming scare and is increasingly expensive I have provided the abovedescribed structure, for the purposes above explained and Wish to belimited only by the following claim.

I claim:

A unitary beehive body comprising fiat end plates and side plates ofmoulded plastic material arranged to have smooth top edges and smoothbottom edges, relieved at intervals to provide entrance grooves for ahive tool, and smooth inner faces with comb frarne grooves adjacent thetop edges, and longitudinal bevelled finger hold grooves formed alongthe top portions of smooth outer faces having undercut top edges, andlongitudinal lightening and insulating holes; said end plates beingmolded of plastic material and having smooth top and bottom edges andsmooth inner faces, and bevelled longitudinal grooves extending inwardlyand upwardly relative to the top edges of said plates to receive theclamp fasteners, and substantially G-shaped clamp fasteners of springlike material hooked over the edges of adjacent grooves, to hold saidplates together in superposed position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 71,405Olden Nov. 26, 1867 77,892 Kline May 12, 1868 1,067,459 Bosserman July15, 1913 1,116,919 Rahn Nov. 10, 1914 FOREIGN PATENTS 574,730 GreatBritain Jan. 17, 1946 914,764 France June 24, 1946'

